Books :
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! : Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz
A look inside –
I have to say that this book ended up being more for me than for my kids. The book is a series of monologs that a teacher wrote for her class so everyone could have their time to shine in a play. The monologs touch on people from all walks of life from a medieval village: children of blacksmiths, shepherds, farmers, tanners, knights, beggars… and the book includes footnotes that give extra information that helps the reader understand new terms or perspectives of the time.
Though I decided after reading a few pieces that the monologs were not entirely appropriate for my kids’ age (see above image), the history nerd in me came out when I decided to stay up late reading the pieces myself. This book would be great for a homeschool lesson (or co-op group) that is a bit more mature. Highly recommended!
The Legend of Robin Hood by Julia McDonnell
A look inside –
We went with two “Legend of” books for this unit. The first one, Robin Hood, offered a look into the story and where it originated. It introduced England (now our first country of Europe) and gave a map of Sherwood Forest. The Legend books are fun because they introduce background information that is not always covered in the stories of the characters.
The Robin Hood story even gives the “Inside Story” to the real Friar Tuck! It is refreshing to see where legend and truth overlap!
The Legend of King Arthur by Shalini Saxena
A look inside –
The legends of Arthur vary widely from place to place, with much speculation on who Arthur was, his relationship to Merlin, and even the location of Camelot! This book addresses a lot of the questionable elements to his story as it is presented….Was the sword that he pulled from the stone called Excalibur? What happened to Sir Galahad and the Holy Grail? This book covers these questions and more and even includes a glossary for readers. This is a great book to introduce Elementary level students to one of the most famous legends of our time.
Knights in Armor: Learn to Measure on Tournament Day by Sally Hewitt
Knights in Armorwas full of exercises in comparing and measuring. This was a favorite in our house. The kids loved how they had a task on every page and asked to read it at least 5 times!
A look inside –
Try as I might, I could not find new copies of any of the books in this series. I even considered adding them to our store. It seems they are out-of-print! They do have used copies online and it may be worth checking your local library!
Knights in Shining Armor by Gail Gibbons
Another great book for the younger crowd, Knights in Shining Armor introduces the “Age of Knights” in a fun and colorful way. It shows the steps to becoming a knight, diagrams that label the different pieces of armor and parts of the castle, and what rules knights followed in the code of chivalry.
A look inside –
Each page is vibrant in color and has a small paragraph that keeps the reading moving. This is a great book to start your units off with. It is very informative relatively easy to understand.
Favorite Medieval Tales by Mary Pope Osborne
Favorite Medieval Tales by Mary Pope Osborne is a great book for older students. The book is very text-heavy, but I fell in love with the
A look inside –
Robin Hood and His Merry Men 
The Sword in the Stone
This was a nice book for bedtime. Each story is only a few pages long and has one full page picture. It was still nice to see some lesser-known tales such as Finn MacCoul, Beowulf, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Quick stories with meaning and a wonderful way to end the night.
Activities :
The first activity was generously provided by Homeschool Creations. She has 2 knight activity packs which include writing practice, 3 part cards, clip cards, a board game and more.
3 Dinosaurs worked with Enchanted Homeschooling Mom and Royal Baloo to put out their own free Medieval printable packs. The packs cover from Pre-K to 3rd Grade, so there is something for everyone!
The kids particularly liked the printable paper dolls found in the packs. I taped them to chopsticks and we used them to put on our own plays (which, with little boys, is a whole lotta dragons roasting and knights fighting). A fun and simple way to have some fun with the stories.
If you are going to be studying knights and kings, you really can’t skip out on making a crown! I cut out crown shapes, grabbed whatever I had in our supply drawer and let them have at it. This was for sure another favorite in our family and one we will do again next year!
FIELD TRIP!
“Nothing ever becomes real ’til it is experienced.”
John Keats
Field trips are invaluable. They offer a richness to learning that you just can not get from a book or video. This is our first field trip related to our studies as a homeschool, but it most certainly will not be our last!
This year, we had the opportunity to go to Medieval Times with our homeschool group. We went during a performance specifically created for schools. The performers took time to go through the “Code of Chivalry” and questioned the audience, using real-life examples that the kids could relate to.
In addition to presenting the time period in real life, Medieval Times offered an opportunity to talk about stories we have read this year, such as King Arthur and his knights!
The whole experience really helped spark the kids’ interest in learning about kings and knights and was really interactive, bringing the unit to life! I definitely recommend taking the time to check it out if your area has a Medieval Times.
It was a ton of fun to see our team’s knight win the tournament!
I hope, if nothing else, you come away with some inspiration for your own homeschool adventures!
Until next time!
<3 aer
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